Clamp



Nov. 9, 1948.' BENNETT 2,453,112

CLAMP j Filed Feb. 14, 1946 INVENTOR.

555E557 BENNETT BY W ' ATTUHNEY" Patented Nov. 9, 1948 2 453, CHAMP: Georgeh'ennett, Vallejo, Calif.

Applicati n Febr am 1946,} Serial N 6 TClaimsu (01. 279-97) (Granted under thei act of March 3,. 188 3, as, amendednAp -il so 1928; 370 0. G.757),

ticu-larlytto clamps for;- gripping studs, rods: nd"

the like.

Objects of the invention are to provide aclamp: which hasa sure grip on; cylindrical members and other-rods, isseasy to=;operate with thefingerspf: one hand;- is readily, and "inexpensively made and i is of simple; durableconstruction;

Inaccomphshing these and other objects of the; present invention; I haveprov-ided improved-de tail-s1 O-fij structure; I the preferred forms of- I which are-illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein;

Fig; 1; is-aperspective viewof one embodiment of theril'l-Velltifll'l appliedto -a chuck for' holding; smallstuds in a stud welding gun;

Eigi 2 is rah-longitudinal cross sectin"ofothe deviceo -1;

Fig; s-anyend view of the device: of Fig," 1 in Fig 4 isan; end'view of theidevice-linvli-igi 11in; the,-lOck;ing position without a stud therein;

Eigf 5- is? a ry-exploded view of another modification of the; invention applied it to a: chuck for holding -largestuds-011* studrwelding guns; L and t Fig. 6 is a perspective view-of another-:modifi;

cation of: the invention-,1 appliedto a-;, clamp for a rod;

Although-. the -present invention is i applicable to holding or clampin r odsior tubesoii-manyyrdifferenti. shapesrsizes and lengths, it; has: been f oundwparticularl-yflseful in; holding studs in the chucks-of stud weld-ing;g uns:

21 0nd arm lis attached'by welding; or brazing to. the body member and extends transverselyuthere from. Acylindrical"counte'rbore8 ofthe-propero size to receive a small welding SfilldfiS formed-"- partially {in the wall of the memberd and pref-ferably more extensively in the end of" the? pin 4; Two or more. suchcounterbores may i be formed in thechuck, if desired; to receive-a plurality 101% studs orwires simultaneously. A coil spring x95;

or theeecu-iivalent, is-interposed between the two-w arms;5-and-h'htending toforce them apart so as to rotate the pin4in=its journal to a positiona wherein the-complementarypcrtions -ofthe mum it terbore 8: areno longer opposite each other as; shown in Els 4. i

In operation the chuckis: secured into=-p1 aceby means Ofithe nut--2=;onto-the plunger of alstud welding gun; The arms? 5 land- -r arer-squeezed together it betweenthethumb and: fingers until;

tlne complementary portions (of the counterbore Referring more particu arly I to the it drawingtheyincdificationeshown innings; 1,2, 3: and hillustrates thei use-ofathe-inventiona in a chuck-$01" a stud; welding gun for holding-small StlldS-Ofi generally; cylindrical shape: Numeral-a l indie may conveniently be made of metal in a ,(generally cylindrical or ccniwlly taperedashape On" 3 and; he eafte the? nut may he b t place to form one side wall of the slct fi A :s ect-,

8 areopposite each-other as shown in-Fig. 2; to

form atcompleteccircularcylindrical opening to receive-the" stud. Thesstud-is then inserted until it reachesthebottom Ill of the bore;8 andthe arms 5; and 1: are then released: Thespring 9 forces 1 the arms apart which rotates the pin; 4 until the detentedge-l I; formedby ithe intersection of the concavity in the -member 4 and thew external cylindrical surface thereof,- bites vinto and firmlyegrips the stud.

Fig. 5hillustrates a second modification of+the;-=.

invention as applied to a-chuckior astudawelding gun foruse with relativelylargestuds Numeral 1 l2 indicatesabody member which may-conven iently beef generally cylindrical shape andtwhich has at ached to one end thereof a nut |3rfor con;- veniently -applying the chuck to a plunger of astud welding gum A--bore- I 4- is providedinlthea memberll: ofthe: propen sizeand depth to: re}; ceive a known-size of stud; In the wall ofzthe member 121 a second cylindrical bore l 5 is pro-,5 videdintersecting: the cylindrical surface oi thBc" bore 1 4" and thus interruptingtthe surface of tha-r nalled in the bore15; Forvillustrativepurposes-11 the pin in this A exploded view is shownarotated approximately: from its normal ranger-of Do The pinml'l' is-providedwithanarm-JS conveniently formed integral therewith fon -r0 sitions.

tatingthe pim in its journal; The pin- I l is alsos provided with a concavity i I 9 20f the same-adept and curvature as the counterbore I 4. The intersection of the; surface of rthe concavity withthe cylindrical:surface ofgtheepin l1 forms aldetent eeaas hawn anlntsimilar to he ent dsell It shown in the device of Fig. l. A reaction arm 2i, similar to the arm l in Fig. l, is welded or otherwise attached at the rear portion of the body member it. and a coil spring 22, or the equivalent, is interposed between the two arms l8 and 2!. The spring is retained by thepins 23 and Z4 protruding from the arms l8 and 2! re spectively. To limit the outward motion of the arm i8 when no stud is in the chuck, a stop means is provided in the form of a piece of fiat stock 25 welded to the rear of the body member l2 and bent as at 25 to form a keeper engaging the arm I 8.

In assembling the device the pin ii is first inserted in the bore l5 and then the stop means 25 is welded in place preventing the pin ['5 from thereafter accidentally falling out. g

In operation the arms 58 and Marc squeezed together thus rotating thepin H until the concavity forms a bridge over the interrupted portionflfi of the surface of the counterbore M which now presents a complete circular cylindrical opening to receive a stud. The stud is in seited-until it strike's the bottom 2? of the counterborefM 'Whereupon'the arms 58 and 2! are released permitting the spring '22 to rotate the pin l1 until th'e detent edge 29 bites into the stud and holds it firmly in the chuck.

Referring to Fig. 6 the invention is shown as appli'ed'to a rod clamp where the rod extends entirely throughthe clamp instead of only partially as in the case of welding studs. The embodiment shown in Fig. 6 is particularly useful in the case of adjustable rods such as on supports or adjustable legs such as on tripods or on stud welding guns or similar apparatus In stud welding guns, especially, the device is useful to replace thclumsy thumb screw arrangement used in prior art "stud welding guns for adjusting the legbf' the gun which'bears against the bulkhead to which a stud is to be welded. The ap; plic'a tion for this use is illustrated in a more or less fragmentary representation wherein the body member 28 of the clamp is shownas provided with the bracket 29 for attachment to the body of a stud welding gun. The adjustable le g 3!} of 9 thestud welding gun extends completely through the clamp body member 23 and is spring pressed away'from 'tlie'gun by means such as a collar 3! fixed to the leg and a light spring 32 acting be tween the 'collar 3! and the end of thebody memberZB. The leg is grip-pedby a locking pin 33 under the action of a spring 34 acting between the fixedarm 35 and the movable 'arm"36 formed as partof the pin 33. The motion of the arm 35 is limited by the stop member 31.

In operation" the arms 35 and 36 are squeezedtogether releasing the grip on the leg 3h, The stud welding gun is moved toward the bulkhead to which the studs are 'to be welded until it reaches the proper point'as determined by the length of the stud to be used. During this movement the point 38 of the leg 3i! is continuously pressed against the bulkhead by the action of the spring 32. When the position of the gun is finally determined, the arms 35 and 36 are released thus permitting the pin 33 to grip the leg equallyapplicable to tubular rods and studs and to rodsand studs of different'sh'apes, wherefore the te-rm-rodisto be 'soco'nstrued in the subjoined claims. Also the shape of the locking pin may be varied so that the detent edge II or 20 may be formed by the intersection of two planes or a plane and a curved surface or two concave curved surfaces instead of by a convex and a concave curved surface as shown most clearly in Fig. 5. That is, the locking edge may be in the form of a knife edge tooth such as would be presented by a prismatic portion of the locking pin or a cuspoid tooth or a tooth of any other suitable design.

While I have shown but several embodiments of my invention, it is apparent that the device is susceptible to further modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I do not wish, therefore, to be limited by the disclosures set forth, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor,

I claim:

1. A stud chuck comprising a generallycylin drieal body member, said body member having a concentric bore therein to receive a stud, said chuck having a second cylindrical bore substantially smaller in diameter than said first bore ex tending longitudinally through the wall of said body member and intersecting said first bore to' interrupt a relatively small portion of thecircumferential surface thereof, a generally cylindrical pin journalledin said second bore, said pin having a concavity of the same curvature as said first bore and ofsuch size as to bridge the interrupted surface of the first bore, an intersection of the surface of the concavity with the 'cylindrical surface of said pin forming a detent edge on said pin, an arm fixed to one'end of said body 7 member and extending outwardly from a dimotion of said second arm. 2. A red clamp comprising a body member having a cylindrical bore therein, a pin journalled in; said bore, said clamp having a second cylindrical; v bore for receiving a rod eccentric to said first bore, the greater portion of the surface of said second bore being constituted by a concavity in said pin and the remaining smaller portion of the surface of said second bore being constituted by a concavity in the wall of said first bore, a circumferential slot in said body member communieating with said first bore, an arm fixedto said pin extending outwardly from the axis thereof,

and spring means biasing said arm to rotate said pin into a position wherein an edgeof said 0011- cavity in said pin engages said rod.

3. A stud chuck comprising a body member having a cylindrical bore therein, a generally cylindrical pin journalled in said bore, said chuck having a counterbore for receiving a stud described about an axis parallel to that of said bore and formed partially in a wall of said body memher and more extensively in said pin, anarm fixed to said body member and extending transversely outwardly therefrom, said body member having a circumferentially extending slot therein commu nicating with said bore, an arm fixed to said pin and extending outwardly therefrom through said slot, and a spring interposed between said arms to force them apart.

4. A rod clamp comprising a generally cylindrical member having a cylindrical bore to receive a rod, and having a cylindrical opening extending longitudinally through the wall thereof and intersecting said bore, a generally cylindrical pin journalled in said opening, said pin having a longitudinal concavity formed in its surface to conform to the curvature of said bore, the intersection of the surface of said concavity with the cylindrical surface of said pin constituting a detent edge, an arm extending transversely from said pin manually operable to rotate said pin into a position wherein said concavity forms a continuation of the surface of said bore and spring means biasing said arm to rotate said pin into a position where said detent edge engages said rod.

5. A clamp comprising a first member having an opening therein shaped to receive a rod and conform to a portion of the surface thereof, a second member journalled in said first member about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said opening and having a portion shaped to form a continuation of the surface of said open ing and conform to the curvature of said rod and having also a detent portion for frictionally engaging said rod, an arm extending radially from said second member manually operable to rotate said second member into a position wherein said first mentioned portion thereof conforms to the surface of said rod, and means biasing said arm to rotate said second member into a position wherein said detent portion engages said rod.

6. A rod clamp comprising a body member having a generally cylindrical opening therein for receiving a rod, the surface of said opening having a break therein, a pin journalled in said body member about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis said cylindrical opening, said pin having a detent portion for projection through said break in the surface of said cylindrical opening to en gage said rod, an arm fixed to said pinvfor rotating said pin and means biasing said arm to rotate said pin into a position wherein said detent portion projects into said cylindrical opening.

'7. A rod clamp comprising a body member having an opening therein shaped to receive a rod, a detent member journallecl in said body member about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said opening and having a detent portion adapted to project into said opening to engage said rod,

means for rotating said detent member, and means biasing said detent member into rod-engaging position. i

' GEORGE BENNETT,

nnrnnnncns crrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent: l

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

